News Release

Hudds professor nominated for prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize

A WIDELY-praised book by the University of Huddersfield’sProfessor Richard Morris has taken its place among nominees for one of the world’s most prestigious and valuable literary prizes.

Published in 2012, Time’s Anvil combines autobiography – including a vivid evocation of the author’s Birmingham childhood – with a wide-ranging investigation and contemplation of history, archaeology and the meaning of time. One reviewer described the book as “an impassioned history and defence of archaeology, a history of humanity in England, and a heartfelt meditation on transience and mortality.”

Now Time’s Anvil – subtitled England, Archaeology and the Imagination – has been selected as one of 18 books on the longlist for the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, which is worth £20,000. Other candidates include Charles Moore’s highly-publicised new biography of Margaret Thatcher and Simon Schama’s The Story of the Jews, which is the basis for a current TV series. The longlist was selected by a panel that included the Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, classicist Mary Beard and leading historian Peter Hennessy.

A shortlist of six books will be announced at the close of September and the winner will be revealed on 4 November.

Richard Morris is a Professor of History at the University of Huddersfield and has wide-ranging areas of interest and expertise. He has a multi-faceted career as an archaeologist and historian who has investigated the distant and the more recent past.

Attached files

Published in 2012, Time’s Anvil combines autobiography – including a vivid evocation of the author’s Birmingham childhood – with a wide-ranging investigation and contemplation of history, archaeology and the meaning of time.